I’ve never been a huge Winger fan but I’ve always wondered about this album. It’s often cited as the band’s best. When I decided to give the band a chance to prove themselves to me again with Karma (I didn’t care much for IV), I decided to finally give this one a chance as well. The end result is an album that has much in common with Karma — a few dark mature tunes and few party-hearty hair metal tunes… Everybody wins!

It took me a few listens, but this is a really good album. I don’t think it is so obvious as the best album as others do, but I enjoy it a lot. It’s a bit more darker and mature thantheir debut and In the Heart of the Young, but it still retains a few pop-metal sensibilities and some incredibly catchy stuff like dirty guitar work on “Down Incognito”, “Like A Ritual” (a true sign Kip hadn’t left hair metal for dead!) and “In My Veins”. “Spell I’m Under” is power ballad worthy of any ’80s hair metal release with the production values and I really like the almost sinister and epic sound it has.

Of course, being released in 1993 during one of rock’s most boring phases, it was the final nail in the coffin for Winger (well, for a number of years anyway). It’s a shame because this is a fantastic release and Kip did a wonderful job of evolving the sound of the band without turning his back on the genre where he made his name.